  Crowdfunding website Crowdcube is the platform for Maggie & Rose's investment pitch: www.crowdcube.com "After receiving many offers of finance from members and club users, we decided to raise finance via crowdfunding. Our Crowdcube presentation is now live and open to members but ONLY for a limited time, click here to register and find out more." - Maggie & Rose  Read more...
 |  Maggie with children Azia, India, Oscar and Olli Maggie Bolger is the founder of Maggie & Rose, a "private members club for families", and is one of the most creative and tenacious entrepreneurs I know. From her own poor experiences of searching for a decent place to take her young children to enjoy time together and meet new people, Maggie had an idea to provide a fun learning environment for pre-schoolers. Once she had the idea there was no hanging around writing lengthy business plans. Despite little capital, Maggie's first step was to rent out a room, generate some cash and make a start with just a few kids and mums looking for a place that was fun and educational. From this starting point, Maggie secured a premises in Kensington, London, and started creating the type of place she would like to take her own four children. After five years of bootstrapping - and the kinds of challenges that would have stopped many other business-owners in their tracks - Maggie and her husband Sean, the company’s business development director, have created a children's club that is profitable and popular with a long waiting list.  Maggie & Rose is selling a 20% stake The pair are now ready to start scaling and have found location number two in Chiswick. They've not been short on investment offers to fund their growth plans and have turned down one offer of conventional VC investment because they want more equity and control. Instead they've decided to go the way of crowdfunding using Crowdcube, an online platform which allows small investors to buy equity in private businesses. Their crowdfunding pitch went live this week and their aim is to raise £800k and sell shares in the new club directly to their members, along with anyone else who wants to participate and share in the rewards. If you're thinking of crowdfunding for your business take a look at Maggie & Rose's pitch which is excellent. Of course, £800k is a big ask in crowdfunding terms and if successful the deal could be the second largest crowdfunding deal within the UK (The Rushmore Group is currently the largest at £1m). If it sounds like my support for Maggie and Rose is biased - it is. Having worked with the team, I'm convinced that their business really deserves to get fully crowdfunded. Not only that, their success would open the gates for many more entrepreneurs exploring this route to capital. |
Update: 1st October 2012
Maggie & Rose receives major investment
"Maggie & Rose are pleased to announce that an investment of £600k has been received, therefore reducing the amount left to raise on Crowdcube to £200k.
This has cemented our belief that Maggie & Rose can become an even greater business, delivering creative members’ clubs for families in London and beyond.
Our new investor is working with us strategically and operationally to optimize our growth:
“With the right vision and support, Maggie & Rose is going to be an incredibly successful brand in defining the global standard of a modern family club - engaging, enriching, entertaining the entire family with uncompromising quality. We look forward to being a key financial and operational partner in Maggie & Rose’s journey to create and define this untapped universal market in the UK and around the world.”
The terms of this investment are confidential."
Link: http://www.crowdcube.com/investment/maggie-rose-12004
Maggie & Rose receives major investment
"Maggie & Rose are pleased to announce that an investment of £600k has been received, therefore reducing the amount left to raise on Crowdcube to £200k.
This has cemented our belief that Maggie & Rose can become an even greater business, delivering creative members’ clubs for families in London and beyond.
Our new investor is working with us strategically and operationally to optimize our growth:
“With the right vision and support, Maggie & Rose is going to be an incredibly successful brand in defining the global standard of a modern family club - engaging, enriching, entertaining the entire family with uncompromising quality. We look forward to being a key financial and operational partner in Maggie & Rose’s journey to create and define this untapped universal market in the UK and around the world.”
The terms of this investment are confidential."
Link: http://www.crowdcube.com/investment/maggie-rose-12004
Update: March 2013
Maggie & Rose investment put to work
Check out how Maggie & Rose is using its investment to build a brand new family members' club in Chiswick, London.
http://www.maggieandrose.com/chiswick
Maggie & Rose investment put to work
Check out how Maggie & Rose is using its investment to build a brand new family members' club in Chiswick, London.
http://www.maggieandrose.com/chiswick
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